Knicks Acquire Felton & Thomas

New York Knickerbockers Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations and General Manager Glen Grunwald announced today that the team has re-acquired guard Raymond Felton, via sign-and trade, and forward/center Kurt Thomas from the Portland Trail Blazers in exchange for forward Jared Jeffries, via sign-and-trade, center Dan Gadzuric, the draft rights to Kostas Papanikolaou and Giorgos Printezis and a protected future second-round draft pick.

Felton, 6-1, 205-pounds, averaged 11.4 points, 6.5 assists, 2.5 rebounds and 1.30 steals over 31.8 minutes in 60 games (56 starts) with the Trail Blazers last season. Originally selected by the Bobcats, following his junior season at the University of North Carolina, with the fifth overall pick in the 2005 NBA Draft, the seven-year NBA veteran holds career averages of 13.4 points and 6.7 assists over 534 games with Charlotte, New York, Denver and Portland. During the 2010-11 season, Felton started all 54 games he appeared in for the Knicks to average 17.1 points and 9.0 assists over 38.4 minutes, before a trade sent him to the Nuggets on Feb. 22, 2011.

Thomas, 6-9, 235-pounds, averaged 3.0 points and 3.5 rebounds over 15.2 minutes in 53 games for the Trail Blazers last season. Originally selected by the Heat, out of Texas Christian University, with the 10th overall pick in the 1995 NBA Draft, the 17-year NBA veteran holds career averages of 8.3 points and 6.8 rebounds over 1,071 games with Miami, Dallas, New York, Phoenix, Seattle, San Antonio, Milwaukee, Chicago and Portland.

For seven seasons from 1998-2005, Thomas donned the blue and orange and was a key contributor to the Knicks’ 1999 Eastern Conference Championship. He currently ranks 19th on the franchise’s all-time scoring list, eighth in rebounds, fourth in blocked shots and 11th in point-rebound double-doubles, and is one of only 17 players to have appeared in at least 500 games for New York.